Continued: Coen brothers' 'Fargo' comes to television

It didn’t hurt that Thornton would once again be associated with the Coens. He starred in their films “The Man Who Wasn’t There” and “Intolerable Cruelty” as well as “Bad Santa,” which they produced.

“I think they’re successful because they stick to things they love and that are in their wheelhouse,” Thornton said. “That gets more rare every day.”

To be clear, the Coens did not write or direct any of the episodes, but as executive producers they made some pivotal suggestions, like hiring their longtime casting director, Rachel Tenner.

“What they said to Noah was, ‘We’re not big fans of imitation. This is kind of strange for us because we feel like you’ve channeled us,’ ” Littlefield said. “And I think Noah may have said, ‘So am I the third Coen?’ And they said, ‘No.’ ”

Littlefield and Hawley insist that if there’s life beyond these 10 episodes, they’ll start fresh with new characters — the same approach used in FX’s “American Horror Story.” But the setting will remain rural Minnesota.

“I think there is something really compelling about the region and the Coen brothers’ style of storytelling, which is not plot-driven, but is both dark and comic,” Hawley said. “I’ve already started planning a second season where I’ll get to tell a whole other story. Until I run out of those, I think it’s a really fun challenge.”